thay arent bad at all, should last a fair while, but you can be guarunteed they will break after a while, but otherwise they are fully sick, i liked mine til it broke. but dont worry it wont be for a fair while.

Why are you interested in a Hope? The Hopes are durable from what I know but the engagements not so hot. If you can't afford a King or a
Hadley try to find a Shimano silent clutch. Cheap and reliable hub, much better engagement... a little mushier feeling though.

"little mushier" what? try stepping into a big bowl of mashed potatoes. now imagine that every time you try a move. i would rather have solid ingagement 24-36 times much more than "infinite" gooey horrid engagment that will explode in no time and kill me.

hope xc hubs are great. if you dont want to save up for a king, the hope xc is a great choice.

Don't get me wrong Kevin, I can't stand to ride a silent clutch anymore... hell.. even a King feels noticeably slow after riding my Hadley. I've used a few in the past freeriding and learning trials though on different wheels, as have friends of mine and they've been very reliable. One of them is a pro level trials rider who rides nothing but silent clutch and goes huge on them without hardly a problem in years of riding. His is laced to a D521 too. I still wonder how he puts up with that skinny ass rim and the mush. But.. roller clutches don't have pawls to skip. I still say it's a great cheap hub for anyone up to sport level.

silent clutches havnt got good engagement, definately not instant, but anyway i really loved mine after my hope bulb got completely destrayed and while i was saving for a king. king is awsome now that it has finally sopped skipping ... LOL!!!

Hope bulbs are smashing little hubs if you are smooth, if you arent then an XC would be better. The bulb has 36 engagements which tend to slip abit more than the XC that has 21.
I use a bulb and it's fine, but thats becuase i'm a light guy and not too harsh ont bike. I've seen bigger folk destroy them real fast though. XC's stand up to a lot more abuse but the drwback is less engagements.

I would argue that a silent clutch is a fair bit faster engagement than a 36 point hub and to me that's 'good' by comparison. The mush can blur that feeling, but it can be worked with in a good way. Some people don't like the jarring bang of widely spaced engagment (leads to very unsure feelings when kicking)... and silent clutches can't skip and, well, they're silent- nice plus.
Andreas.. not sure what you mean by 'infinite engagement' but the shimano's system is the same sort of set up as the Stealth. Apparently the Stealth version of the roller clutch ramps up more quickly though giving you engagement more like a King. I haven't tried the Stealth but would like to. Small thing about the roller clutches is this system gives you the same engagement point no matter where in your rotation you start to push as opposed to pawls, and the fewer you have the worse it is, which leave more or less space before engagement depending on where you are on the rotation of the hub.
DISCLAIMER: I DON'T WORK FOR SHIMANO NOR WOULD I WISH A SILENT CLUTCH ON ANY RIDER WHO HAD THE OPTION OF KING OR HADLEY.
.. didn't wanna come off as the poster boy for silent clutches :greddy2: , just makin points.

the stealth hubs are awesoem. i have two sitting here... they are good stuff. real solid engagement.

silent clutch hubs feel like they have wind up to me... like in cartoons when people run away rear fast- their legs go for a few steps then they zip off real fast. thats what i get form a silent clutch. it's one of the least confidence inspiring things i can imagine- right up there with throttle grip and mystery creaking sounds.

i wouldnt wish a silent clutch hub on anyone i know. i wouldnt even tell a beginner to get one. the money is much better spent being put towards something much nicer. i would rather take some time off and not ride than spend money of a hub that could detonate at any seconds and take me out with it.

infamous king hater andrewt has been known to threaten his bike with the hope XC at times, because he claimed it was better than king...and with his last king hun, he was probably right. i ahve never ridden one, but i have heard only praise for them. hope XC. or save up. king it.

Great hub. Had one for a while till it started skipping really bad. It essentially got loose and couldn't figure out how the heck to tighten it. I think they require special tools... (might be wrong though)

The hope Bulb is a great hub. I have had a buld for about 3 years, and it has only been back to hope twice once the internals were screwed the other time i broke the axle. Looking at over a year between it going back. Best thing about hope is they have a tendancy to fix things for free. Both times my hub has gone back it's been fixed for free. :bigthumb:. In my opinion i wouldn't bother with an xc just go straight for the bulb.